This is a National Stage entry of application No. PCT/AT99/00114, with an international filing date of May 11, 1999, and the complete disclosure of which is incorporated into this application by reference.
The invention relates to a presentation device with a base, with bars, for a flexible stand connectable or connected to the base via a plug connection, and with a holding means for a placard, film or such like presentation carrier for connecting the latter to the base and the stand.
The presentation devices of this type are used for the presentation or display of documents, such as placards, advertising materials, graphics, photographs, etc., a paper, a cloth, a film or such like presentation carrier being held, tensioned, between the base and the upper end of the stand. The flexible stand is, in this case, bent out, utilizing its elasticity, in order to keep the presentation carrier tensioned. The presentation carrier may be provided directly with appropriate imprints, but it may also take the form of a sheet-like or film-like presentation carrier, to which documents, such as photographs, etc., are affixed, as mentioned above.
AT 1 857 U discloses a presentation device of this type which consists of a construction kit of elements to be plugged together, so that, in the dismantled state, this presentation device can be accommodated in a comparatively small compact pack. In particular, here, a base capable of being plugged together from two side parts and a transverse part is provided, and the stand is composed of bars plugged together in a X-shaped manner. It has been shown, on the one hand, that this known presentation device is relatively unstable in the erected state and, on the other hand, that, overall, it is relatively time-consuming and troublesome to plug together the components of the presentation device.
On the other hand, DE 93 01 769 U discloses a presentation device, in which the base consists of two side parts which are connected by means of two transverse rods screwed to them; two relatively long one-piece rods are connected to this base by being inserted into it, in order thereby to form the stand, the presentation carrier being held, tensioned, on ropes between the upper ends of the rods and the base. The rods are connected to one another approximately in the middle of their length by means of a transverse strut which is fixed to the rods with the aid of rings and clamping screws.
As is clear, this presentation device, too, is relatively complicated to erect and to dismount, above all because a tool also has to be used for this purpose, and moreover, because of the length of the stand rods, at is also not possible to have a compact small pack for transport purposes.
The object of the invention, then, is to provide a presentation device of the type mentioned in the introduction, which can be built up and demounted again by means of unusually few manual actions and without the aid of tools, which, at the same time, can nonetheless be accommodated, in the dismantled state, in a compact small pack, and which, furthermore, has high stability or firmness in the assembled state.
The presentation device according to the invention, of the type mentioned in the introduction, is characterized in that the base is designed with at least two, preferably four elongate foldable feet which are articulated on an elongate crossmember and are pivotable out of a folded-up position of rest parallel to the crossmember into an operating position at least essentially at right angles to the cross-member and back again. In the presentation device according to the invention, therefore, an a ready premounted base is provided, which, in the position of rest of its foldable feet, when these are folded against the crossmember, nonetheless requires only a small amount of space within the pack, but allows high stability or firmness when the foldable feet are folded out, since the articulated connections between the foldable feet and the crossmember can ensure a high stability and firmness of the connection. In this case, the erection of the base can be carried out in the shortest possible time, with the foldable feet being folded out, so that, in this respect too, the above objective is fulfilled in an advantageous way. The bars forming the stand may then be provided in a plug system in a way known per se, and, in particular, even short bar elements, for example with a length of 50 cm or 75 cm, can be plugged together lengthwise, in order to achieve stand heights of, for example, 1.5 m or even over 2 m; the bar length may, of course, also be differentxe2x80x94shorter or longerxe2x80x94and, in particular, bar elements with a length of 1 m may also be used.
The bars may in this case have a solid cross section, but tubular bars may also be used, as is preferred per se. In principle, tubular bars arranged telescopically one inside the other may also be employed, but, preferably, identical bars, in particular with equal lengths, which can be plugged together via plug connection elements, are used.
The foldable feet are articulated on the crossmember as far outwards as possible, that is to say at its ends, and, as mentioned, preferably four foldable feet altogether are affixed, in each case two foldable feet being present on a longitudinal side of the crossmember, so that, when he base is in the unfolded state, an I-shape, with the crossmember as the longitudinal leg of the I and with he foldable feet, taken together in pairs, as the transverse webs of the I, is obtained. If desired, the foldable feet may also be pivoted out of the position of rest into the folded-out position through more than 90xc2x0, for example through 100xc2x0 or 110xc2x0, a greater spread for higher stability, for example in the case of relatively short crossmembers, thus being obtained by means of the ends of the foldable feet.
The articulated connection between the foldable feet and the crossmember may be stiff per se, so that the foldable feet dwell in a relatively stable manner both in the folded-out position and in the folded-up position, the foldable feet being capable of being pivoted only by the friction in the joints being overcome. Since this may sometimes be troublesome, it has proved particularly beneficial if the foldable feet are lockable at least in the folded-out operating position, preferably also in the folded-up position of rest. In this case, means conventional per se, such as plug-in pins, but also spring catches, etc., may serve for locking the foldable feet. However, a possibility which is simple in terms of both production and operation is afforded if the foldable feet are vertically adjustable relative to the crossmember along joint pins, being freely pivotable in one vertical position relative to the crossmember, for example in a lowered position, and being locked in their respective position in another vertical position, for example a position raised in relation to the crossmember, by coming to bear against a stop of the crossmember. The stop of the crossmember may, in this case, be formed, for example, by a suitably shaped joint strap, against which the respective foldable foot comes to bear with a step or a shoulder. If the foldable feet are vertically adjustable relative to the crossmember, therefore, by means of this vertical adjustment, interlocking in the respective folding position can be achieved by the, for example, plane shoulder coming to bear against the, for example, plane stop face, whereas, in the other relative vertical position, the shoulder and stop lie at different levels, so that the pivoting movement of the foldable feet relative to the crossmember is possible.
In order to ensure a fixed articulated connection in spite of the possibility of the vertical adjustment of the foldable feet, it is advantageous if the joint pins are affixed in joint straps of the crossmember with a press fit. Only the limited vertical adjustment of the foldable feet and their pivoting relative to the joint pins and to the crossmember is thereby possible.
For a stable articulated connection, if appropriate with the possibility of simple vertical adjustment of the foldable feet relative to the crossmember, it is also advantageous, furthermore, if each foldable foot has a plurality of joint straps arranged one above the other and associated joint straps are arranged one above the other on the crossmember, the joint straps of the foldable foot and of the crossmember engaging one into the other.
Moreover, for production reasons, it has proved beneficial if the crossmember is formed by a square profile with pushed-on hollow-profile end parts which carry joint straps. In this case, at least the hollow-profile end parts can be produced as plastic injection mouldings, so that inexpensive manufacture is ensured in spite of the elements necessary for the articulated connection.
It is also advantageous, furthermore, if hooks for suspending a lower transverse bar of the holding means are provided on the top side of two foldable feet provided on one longitudinal side of the crossmember. If, at the same time, the foldable feet are formed with top sides descending towards their outer ends, the hooks, which are at a distance from the joints, may be provided in such a way that they do not project beyond the top side of the crossmember when the foldable feet are in the folded-up state, so that, in this respect too, the compact unit of the base is preserved for packaging purposes.
For a stable hold of the stand on the base, it has proved advantageous, furthermore, if plug-in receptacles for the stand bars are provided in the crossmember, if appropriate the hollow-profile end parts of the latter. For manufacturing reasons, it is also favourable, in this case, if the plug-in receptacles are provided in separate plug inserts. The plug inserts may, in this case, already be premounted in corresponding recesses in the crossmember or in its hollow-profile end parts, for example simply by being plugged into the recesses, and a close fit or a press fit may be provided. At the same time, adaptation to different bar sections, using different plug inserts, may also be carried out, without changes having to be made on the rest of the base itself, so that fewer or smaller different components have to be produced and kept in stock for different sizes of the presentation device.
In order to achieve a stable stand, it is also advantageous if the plug-in receptacles are formed by oblique bores, the axes of which in each case run in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the crossmember.
For specific applications, it is advantageous if, in the position of use, the stand is placed onto the base by means of lower bars which extend vertically upwards. This may be envisaged, or example, in the case of comparatively low stands and a slight elastic bending-out or the stand structure when the presentation carrier is affixed. It is therefore beneficial, here, if the plug-in receptacles are formed by bores perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the crossmember.
The stand bars preferably run essentially parallel to one another in their position plugged into the bores. It may be mentioned that parallel rods are already known from the above-mentioned DE 93 01 769 U, but, there, the stand rods are plugged into tubes on the side parts of the base, specifically in the immediate vicinity of the fastening points of tension ropes for the presentation carrier at the front end of the base. By contrast, in the last-mentioned embodiment of the presentation device according to the invention, the engagement point of the stand is displaced towards the centre of the base, since the crossmember will, as a rule, be in the middle of the base, with the result that an additional increase in the firmness and stability of the stand can be achieved.
In order to ensure a particularly rigid structure of the stand, it is also advantageous if two transverse struts are provided for connecting the stand bars in a double-H shape. In order also to secure the individual components of the stand against displacements in the particularly rigid structure of the latter, it has also proved advantageous if the transverse struts are provided at their ends with T-pieces for plugging in stand bars.
A particularly advantageous design with a double arrangement of presentation carriers back to back may be achieved if combined T-Y-pieces are attached to the upper ends of the stand bars plugged into the plug-in receptacles, and are each provided with two upper blind bores, in order in each case to receive a pair of further stand bars for producing two double-H stand structures. In this embodiment, therefore, the stand structure is divided above the combined T-Y-pieces, so as to obtain two double-H structures which, however, have in common the lower bars plugged into the base and the first lower transverse bar which connects the two combined T-Y-pieces.
Correspondingly, it is advantageous if T-pieces are pushed with their transverse webs onto an upper transverse bar of the holding means, bores for plugging in the stand bars being provided in the legs of said T-pieces.
In the present presentation device, an advantageous development is also obtained in that the projecting uppermost and lowermost transverse bars which are provided for holding the respective presentation carrier and belong to adjacent presentation devices can be connected to one another in a simple way by means of suitable connection pieces. As a result, two or more presentation devices can be erected next to one another and connected to one another, so as to achieve, overall, a composite enlarged presentation surface by means of the individual presentation carriers. This presentation surface can be made uniform by coupling the presentation devices, since coupling takes place virtually in the plane of the individual presentation carriers, so that, overall, the individual presentation carriers are also present in one and the same plane of the presentation surface. Accordingly, an advantageous development of the present presentation device is characterized by connection pieces with axially aligned blind bores for connecting upper and/or lower transverse bars of two double-H structure stands erected next to one another. Moreover, in this case, for ensuring the uniform overall presentation surface which is formed by the presentation carriers, it is beneficial if the presentation carriers on the two double-H structure stands are releasably connected to one another a their mutually adjacent longitudinal edges, for example by means of touch-and-close fastenings.
The invention embraces in the same way both a presentation device in the non-mounted state, as a kit of construction elements, and a presentation device in the mounted state.